Tracy & The Plastics

Bottom of the Hill
July 13, 2005

By j-ro

The first time that I saw Tracy & the Plastics was when she played an in-store at Rasputin’s in Berkeley. I had heard her record (Muscler’s Guide) a few times, and I danced around the isles with the other 60 or so people that showed up (and confused some passers by). Everyone was talking about Tracy’s (her real name is Wynne, but I’ll call her Tracy) awesome audiovisual show, where she interacts with pre-recorded videos of herself playing the parts of her band members Cola and Nikki. Unfortunately, the in-store didn’t involve any video.

The second time that I saw Tracy was when she opened for Chicks on Speed and Peaches at the Fillmore. I got to the show during Tracy’s last song and again everyone was talking about how amazing her set was. I was sad that I missed it, but I was soon distracted by Chicks on Speed and their cool self-made videos (similar to the videos by their friends Le Tigre). Plus, it was a Peaches show. Peaches is insane. Some chicks got naked and Peaches threw vibrators to the audience, a dildo almost hit me in the head, and I forgot about how sad I was that I had missed Tracy again.

A couple of weeks ago, Tracy finally came back to town and played at the Bottom of the Hill. I was worried that it might sell out and I forgot to ask to be put on the list, so we got to the show super early. No one was really there yet, but soon the Bottom of the Hill was full of lesbians and boys with really amazing hair. I noticed Tracy walking around with a shot of some brownish alcohol that she kept taking small sips of. I made eye contact with her a couple of times during Warbler’s set, but I held myself back from talking to Tracy. I’m trying to cut down on my random celebrity stalking (plus I probably would have called her Tracy).

Tracy took a while to set up, and then announced that after over a year of not drinking, she had chosen that night to fall of the wagon. She asked us to bear with her through her short set. She said that she was going though a time in her life where she was trying to figure out what she was (a singer? a weird performance artist?). She didn’t feel like being looked at. I decided to not even attempt to use the flash on my camera.

Tracy only played 4 or 5 songs and the only video that she interacted with was a flower that she offended by telling it that it was naked. I danced and lip sank, and elbowed some girls that were trying to push their way to the front. Tracy forgot the words to one of her songs. I should have been a little upset by once again missing a real Tracy & the Plastics show, but she was so cute.

The opening bands made it worth getting there early. The first band was Post Coitus, they are on Disco Sean’s (Live 105) label. Post Coitus consisted of two really young-looking guys wearing matching shirts and headbands and played minimal instruments along with some pre-recorded drum machines. The dance-punk vibe was similar to a younger less housey Chk Chk Chk. I really liked their energy, and remembered seeing them at Bottom of the Hill during Noise Pop last February when they opened for Les Georges Leningrad. I liked them much better out of the crowded Noise Pop atmosphere. I bought a few copies of Post Coitus’ album for Rasputin – so buy it.

The other opening band was Warbler. Warbler’s female vocalist seemed friendly and nice while talking, then as soon as they would start to play a song, she go wild like she was suddenly fronting a hardcore band. During breaks between songs, she was sweet again and talking up her home state of New Jersey. In the mayhem that she created during the short songs, she managed to break her small Radioshack keyboard while pounding on it with a drumstick, and then she decided to finish destroying the keyboard during the remainder of the set. My friends and I grabbed a few broken white plastic keys from the floor (and the garbage can) and decided that they could be made in to great earrings during our next craft night.
I wish that Tracy’s set had been longer, but I had a great time - and potentially some new earrings.